Kakko doesn’t think Rangers criticism led to deal
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
Kaapo Kakko doesn’t believe his criticism of the New York Rangers led to his being traded to Seattle on Wednesday night, although Kraken general manager Ron Francis believes the player’s candor might have accelerated a deal.
Kakko, 23, candidly disagreed with coach Peter Laviolette’s decision to make him a healthy scratch for the Rangers’ loss in St. Louis on Sunday. “I know we’re losing games, but I think it’s just easy to take the young guy and put him out,” he said.
Kakko also noted that while his line hadn’t generated a lot of offense — the forward had four goals and 10 assists in 30 games for the Rangers — opponents hadn’t scored much when he was on the ice at 5-on-5. “I’ve not been the worst guy, [but] that was me out of the lineup,” he said Tuesday
The next day, the Rangers traded Kakko to the Kraken for defenseman Will Borgen, a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NHL entry draft.
An NHL source indicated that the Rangers weren’t reacting to Kakko’s comments in making that trade — that the move was made to continue to reshape the struggling team and because Kakko is a restricted free agent next summer to whom the Rangers weren’t ready to commit long term.
Kakko also believed his comments weren’t the catalyst for the trade.
“I don’t think it’s because of that. The team was playing not well enough. I was kind of waiting something is going to happen, and I knew also it might be me,” said Kakko of the Rangers, who are 3-11-0 in their past 14 games. “I mean, with those comments, I was kind of frustrated and I was honest and then that’s what I thought at the time.”
But Francis feels Kakko’s criticism might have hastened the trade.
Francis said that he and Rangers GM Chris Drury had talked about a Kakko trade for at least a week before it happened but that interest picked up in recent days.
“I would think when he was a healthy scratch that Chris got a lot of calls, not just from me. That tends to be the nature of the beast in our business. We had already started having conversations when the comments came out,” he said. “So it’s kind of an awkward situation. You’ve got a disgruntled guy in your locker room. So did that speed things up? It probably did, but at the end of the day, I think Chris wasn’t just going to do something to do something. But could have been a factor as well.”
Kakko had been vocal during his time with the Rangers about his role and the ice time he received. He admitted on Thursday that there were discussions with management about a trade last season to give him a fresh start with another team, but he stopped short of characterizing those talks as “demanding” a trade.
“Last year was kind of bad year for me. I wasn’t good enough, to be honest,” he said regarding a season when he had 13 goals and six assists in 61 games.
Rather than get that fresh start, Kakko re-upped with the Rangers in June on a one-year contract worth $2.4 million.
“I didn’t have a contract after the last season. We were thinking about what’s the best thing for me and for the team. We talked about it a little bit, but then [I] ended up signing with the Rangers and wanted to play for them,” he said.
But 31 games into this season, the Rangers are a disappointment in the Eastern Conference, sitting in sixth place in the Metro Division. They already traded captain Jacob Trouba to Anaheim in a bid to shake up the roster. Then it was Kakko’s turn.
He said he realized something was afoot when he emerged from a hotel sauna in Dallas to discover that he had missed three phone calls from Drury.
Kakko said he’s looking forward to getting started with the Kraken, seeing the trade to Seattle as a second chapter for his NHL career. In 330 NHL games, he has 61 goals and 70 assists (131 points). His career best in goals was 18 in 2020-21.
“I liked my time in New York, but it never worked out the way we wanted. I think this is a new chance for me over here, and then we’ll see how it goes,” said Kakko, who again will be a restricted free agent after the season.
Francis said the Kraken intend to give Kakko a chance to make an immediate impact, playing him in their top six forwards and giving him power-play time.
“We’ll see what the coaches want to do there, but he’s played 300 games but he’s still only 23 years old. So we just think there’s the potential for upside, and that’s why we made the deal,” Francis said.
MIAMI — Philadelphia Phillies star shortstop Trea Turner left the team’s game against the Miami Marlins in the seventh inning Sunday because of a right hamstring strain.
Turner hit a solo homer in the sixth to narrow Philadelphia’s deficit to 4-2. When his turn came again in the seventh, Turner legged out a grounder and reached on a throwing error by Miami Otto Lopez.
Edmundo Sosa replaced Turner as the baserunner and at shortstop.
The 32-year-old Turner leads the NL in batting average at .305 and also has a league-leading 179 hits this season.
NEW YORK — Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette was not in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Yankees a day after colliding with Austin Wells on a play at the plate.
Bichette was thrown out in the sixth inning of Saturday’s 3-1 loss by Cody Bellinger‘s 95.3 mph one-hop throw from right field when he attempted to score on a single by Nathan Lukes.
He hobbled off the field with the assistance of a trainer after colliding with Wells’ shin guard. The game was delayed by rain for nearly two hours, and during the delay, X-rays came back negative. Bichette struck out in his final at-bat Saturday.
“It didn’t look great, but we’re at the point where if you can play, you can play,” manager John Schneider said Saturday. “Bo understands that, and everyone understands that. I don’t think it needed stitches or anything, but there was a lot going on.”
Bichette is third in the major leagues with a .311 average. He has 18 homers and leads Toronto with 93 RBIs in 139 games this season.
He also leads the majors with 181 hits and 44 doubles and is hitting .418 (33-for-79) during a 20-game on-base streak.
Ernie Clement started at shortstop for the Blue Jays, who began Sunday with a three-game lead over the Yankees in the American League East.
The latest AP poll is out. After a dramatic first week of action, not much changed at the top of the rankings with most teams pulling out wins, but there was still quite a bit of movement throughout.
And we did see some upsets and impressive wins with four ranked teams (the Arizona State Sun Devils, Florida Gators, Michigan Wolverines and SMU Mustangs) all losing — Florida, SMU and ASU are no longer ranked as a result.
The top seven schools in the rankings, on the other hand, outscored their opponents by a combined 307-26. In all, four AP-ranked teams scored 70 or more points, the second time that has happened in the AP poll era (since 1936).
Stats courtesy of ESPN Research.
All times Eastern
Previous ranking: 1
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Grambling 70-0
Stat to know: Julian Sayin completed his first 16 passes to start the game. It’s the longest streak to begin a game in school history.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Ohio, 7 p.m., Peacock
Previous ranking: 2
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated FIU 34-0
Stat to know: This was Penn State’s 13th shutout since 2014, the second most in that span behind Alabama’s 15.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Villanova, 3:30 p.m., FS1
Previous ranking: 3
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Louisiana Tech 23-7
Stat to know: LSU has not lost a home game to an in-state opponent since 1982.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Florida, 7:30 p.m., ABC
Previous ranking: 6
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Oklahoma State 69-3
Stat to know: The 66-point win is Oregon’s largest win against an FBS opponent since 2019 against Nevada (won by 71 points).
What’s next: Saturday at Northwestern, noon, Fox
Previous ranking: 5
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Bethune-Cookman 45-3
Stat to know: Carson Beck completed his first 15 passes in Week 2. He passed Vinny Testaverde (1986, against Oklahoma) for the most consecutive completions within a game in Miami history.
What’s next: Saturday vs. South Florida, 4:30 p.m., CW Network
Previous ranking: 4
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Austin Peay 28-6
Stat to know: The 22-point win is the narrowest margin of victory by a top-five SEC team against a non-FBS opponent since 2012.
What’s next: Saturday at Tennessee, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Previous ranking: 7
2025 record: 1-1
Week 2 result: Defeated San Jose State 38-7
Stat to know: Arch Manning joined Vince Young, Colt McCoy and David Ash by throwing multiple touchdown passes of more than 20 yards and having a TD run over 20 yards in multiple games.
What’s next: Saturday vs. UTEP, 4:15 p.m., SEC Network
Previous ranking: 9
2025 record: 0-1
Week 2 result: Idle
What’s next: Saturday vs. Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m., NBC
Previous ranking: 11
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Duke 45-19
Stat to know: After scoring 52 points against Western Illinois last week, the Illini have scored 45 points in consecutive games for the first time in the past 20 seasons.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Western Michigan, 7 p.m., FS1
Previous ranking: 14
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated East Texas A&M 77-3
Stat to know: FSU had 729 total yards, the most by the Seminoles since Nov. 4, 2000.
What’s next: Sept. 20 vs. Kent State
Previous ranking: 10
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated South Carolina State 38-10
Stat to know: Vicari Swain recorded two punt returns for touchdowns against South Carolina State, making that three for the season (and he has done it in just six quarters).
What’s next: Saturday vs. Vanderbilt, 7:45 p.m., SEC Network
Previous ranking: 8
2025 record: 1-1
Week 2 result: Defeated Troy 27-16
Stat to know: Clemson trailed 16-0 before scoring the final 27 points of the game. That is the largest comeback win for Clemson since 2020 against Boston College.
What’s next: Saturday at Georgia Tech, noon, ESPN
Previous ranking: 18
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Michigan 24-13
Stat to know: OU has not allowed a point in the first half of consecutive games for the first time since 2009.
What’s next: Saturday at Temple, noon, ESPN2
Previous ranking: 16
2025 record: 3-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Iowa 16-13
Stat to know: Iowa State won at home in this series for the first time since 2011.
What’s next: Saturday at Arkansas State, 4 p.m., ESPN2
Previous ranking: 22
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated East Tennessee State 72-17
Stat to know: The 72 points are the Volunteers’ most points scored in a game in the AP poll era (1936).
What’s next: Saturday vs. Georgia, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Previous ranking: 19
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Utah State 44-22
Stat to know: Marcel Reed has thrown three touchdown passes in three consecutive games. It’s the second-longest streak at A&M since 2004.
What’s next: Saturday at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m., NBC
Previous ranking: 20
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Kentucky 30-23
Stat to know: This was Ole Miss’ fourth win when trailing by 10 or more points in the Lane Kiffin era.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Arkansas, 7 p.m., ESPN
Previous ranking: NR
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Florida 18-16
Stat to know: USF is the fourth team in the AP poll era (since 1936) to win its first two games of a season against AP-ranked opponents while being unranked in each win, joining 2012 Oregon State, 2008 East Carolina and 1976 North Carolina.
What’s next: Saturday at Miami, 4:30 p.m., CW
Previous ranking: 21
2025 record: 1-1
Week 2 result: Defeated UL Monroe 73-0
Stat to know: Ty Simpson finished 17-of-17, the most completions without an incompletion in a game in SEC history. It is also the most consecutive completions within a game in Alabama history.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Wisconsin, noon, ABC
Previous ranking: 25
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Cal Poly 63-9
Stat to know: After Jackson Bennee returned an interception 46 yards for a score, it extended Utah’s streak of returning at least one interception for a touchdown to 22 straight seasons.
What’s next: Saturday at Wyoming, 8 p.m., CBSSN
Previous ranking: 24
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Kent State 62-14
Stat to know: Texas Tech has outscored its opponents by 108 points this season, its second most through the first two games of a season in the AP poll era (since 1936).
What’s next: Saturday vs. Oregon State, 3:30 p.m., Fox
Previous ranking: 23
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Kennesaw State 56-9
Stat to know: Indiana improves to 11-0 against Conference USA teams all-time, the fourth-most wins without a loss against the conference.
What’s next: Friday vs. Indiana State, 6:30 p.m., BTN
Previous ranking: 15
2025 record: 1-1
Week 2 result: Lost to Oklahoma 24-13
Stat to know: Justice Haynes‘ four rushing scores this season are the most by a Michigan player in his first two games with the school in the past 30 seasons.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Central Michigan, noon, BTN
Previous ranking: NR
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Ball State 42-3
Stat to know: Auburn’s six sacks are its most in a game since sacking Alabama (all Bryce Young) seven times in November 2021.
What’s next: Saturday vs. South Alabama, 12:45 p.m., SEC Network
Previous ranking: NR
2025 record: 2-0
Week 2 result: Defeated Kansas 42-31
Stat to know: Missouri trailed by 15 points. This is its largest comeback win since 2016 vs. Arkansas.
What’s next: Saturday vs. Louisiana, 4 p.m. on SECN+
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